Running up that Hill
by lonesomeloser
Summary: Judd and Vicki have only been married a few days when disaster strikes. An alternate story line. In this alternate story line, Judd and Vicki were married in the States, not Petra.
1. Chapter 1: The Briefing

**Yet another Judd/Vicki fic. This one is a lot heavier than Domestic Bliss. Set during the tribulation, just shortly after Judd and Vicki are married.**

**I don't own LBTK etc etc.**

**Now read! MWAHAHAHA**

* * *

**_"If I only could make a deal with God,  
Get Him to swap our places.  
Be running up that road,  
Be running up that hill,  
With no problems."  
-Kate Bush "Running Up That Hill"_**

The Commanders boots fell heavy on the concrete floor of the prison. The sound of his steps alone could bring the strongest, bravest warrior to their knees. He carried with him an air of impending doom. Death followed wherever he went. There was one thing that was certain when it came to Commander Fulcire. You didn't want to be on his bad side.

Fulcire barreled through the doors to the meeting room, his underlings already seated around the table, eyes forward and bodies leaning in to hear from their leader. They had achieved a victory that day, and they were all eager to hear their leaders next move.

The Commander sat heavily and glared at the other troops, his gaze was the epitome of terrifying.

"Gentlemen." he began, his voice deep and authoritative, "Today we have achieved a great victory, but we must not allow ourselves to become too proud of ourselves. For this victory is only the beginning if we play our cards right. The prisoner we arrested today is just one piece in the puzzle that we are trying to complete, but she is indeed a very large piece."

Fulcire glared around the room, eyeballing each troop at the conference table, before throwing up a mug-shot on the screen. The woman was young, she looked tired, but fierce. Her eyes held a distinct courage that could only be held by someone with the faith that she held.

"The prisoner in question is a nineteen year old, Caucasian female from Mount Prospect, Illinois. You may know her as Vicki B. Full name; Victoria Byrne. This young woman has been a thorn in the Global Communities side since she began distributing illegal news propaganda material in her high school shortly after the disappearances five years ago. She later went on to commit several other crimes against the Global Community including the disruption of a GC Gala with an illegal broadcast that she and her accomplices made possible after stealing GC equipment. We have had this girl in GC custody before, but she has always managed to slip through our fingers, usually, from the help of her main accomplice: this man."

Fulcire clicked the button and a photo of a young man appeared. This wasn't a mug shot. This had been taken from a distance without the subjects knowledge. "This man is Judd Thompson, a 21 year old Caucasian male from Mount Prospect Illinois. He has many times been linked to crimes committed by Vicki B and is of course responsible to many for of his own and he is now, as we have so recently discovered, Vicki B's husband."

Murmurs erupted around the table. This was new and interesting information.

"This man is the only reason why I haven't already personally executed Vicki B." Fulcire continue, "If his past actions are any indication, this stupid boy will do anything to try and rescue his precious wife. All we really have to do is play the waiting game. We hold Byrne is custody, and wait, until Thompson decides to show his face and then we capture him as well. The only thing that would make executing this pest a whole lost sweeter would be watching her face as we execute her new husband first. So I need round the clock watch, at all of our prisons and bases in the area. I need Peacekeepers out there 24/7 keeping watch for that boy, because when he comes around, and I know he will, I want him brought in and I want him alive. Do you understand?"

Fulcire glared at his troops who all saluted and replied, "Yes sir." in unison.

"We're close gentlemen." Fulcire said, rising from his seat, "Incredibly close to having not only one, but two of our most wanted criminals in our custody, and I will not rest until they are both dead."

* * *

**To be continued.. if you want more that is... oh heck, I'll continue either way. x**


	2. Chapter 2: The Fight

**Part 2 baby.**

* * *

**Earlier That Day**

"Hon, have you seen this email?" Vicki called from the bedroom.

Judd popped his head around the corner and saw his wife sitting cross legged on their bed with their laptop in front of her and a furrowed brow.

"What email?" he asked, going around and sitting on the edge of the bed, looking over her shoulder at the screen.

"This one," she asked, pointing at the screen. The title read "Please Help!"

"Oh that one," he replied, "Yeah I saw it."

Vicki was scanning the email with her eyes when she frowned, "Judd, this is a plea for help from some believers in Wisconsin. Why is it in the trash folder?"

"Because it reeks of a trap, Vick." he replied.

"A trap?" Vicki spat, "How exactly does it reek of a trap?"

"C'mon Vick, it's the perfect way to lure us right into the GC's open hands, besides, I have a bad gut feeling about it." he said frowning.

"But it could be a legitimate cry for help!" she exclaimed, "There could be believers in danger, don't you even want to try and find out?"

"Vick, we've been married four days, if these were normal circumstances, we'd still be on our honeymoon."

"But these aren't normal circumstances, Judd." Vicki shouted, standing up, "These are dark days! There are people who could be counting on us to help them survive!"

"Or there could be people who want to capture us and take our heads off!" he retorted, standing as well.

Vicki let out a groan of frustration, "Judd, when you were in Israel, I responded to calls just like these and they were all legitimate and look I'm still alive!"

"Yeah, and I'd like to keep it that way!" Judd yelled.

"You are impossible!" she cried.

"I'm not, I just don't want to have to see you on television getting executed!" he argued.

"So you're not coming then?" she asked, raising an eye brow.

"No!" he exclaimed.

Vicki turned on her heel and stomped to the door.

"Wait, what!?" he cried grabbing her by the arm, "You're not going!"

"Let go of me!" Vicki shouted, slapping his hand away.

"Vicki, please." he said, eyes pleading, "Please, at least give it some thought."

"Fine! I won't go!" she shouted, throwing her arms in the air, "I guess I'll just let them suffer."

As she stormed from the room he called after her sarcastically, "I guess you don't love me anymore huh?"

"I still love you, you idiot." she called back, "I just don't like you very much right now."

* * *

Vicki huffed out to the back of the house and sat heavy on a log, crossing her arms and glaring at an innocent bird who was pecking at some leaves. _How could he be so heartless!_ She thought. She remembered all the times that she and Shelly and Conrad had ventured around the states responding to messages from Christians. Sure it had been dangerous work, but God had always had their backs and they always returned safely. Even when they had fallen into traps like with Chris Traiken, they had always been delivered safely from it. She knew that Judd wasn't really heartless. She knew he felt just like she felt. Tired. Tired of running, tired of fighting, tired of always being prepared for the worst. All either of them wanted was to just settle down, stop running and just spend some quality time together. A candlelit dinner, a romantic walk somewhere, a long lie-in on a weekend, but none of that was going to be happening anytime soon. Vicki knew that getting married wouldn't be a walk in the park. She just couldn't believe that their first fight, as husband and wife had already happened. It worried her. She and Judd had a past and a history that involved a lot of fighting. They were both strong, bold and courageous people. When they worked together they were an unstoppable force, when they were separated, things turned ugly. She didn't want to fight with him, she hated it. She loved him so much that fighting with him killed her. She knew he loved her just the same, and she knew he just didn't want to lose her. But what if people were really in trouble? What if people were counting on them to save them? What if there were unbelievers among them that needed to hear the truth before it was too late? She dropped her head in her hands and sighed. _God, what am I supposed to do?_

* * *

Judd paced back and forth on the bedroom floor that he was worried he might wear a hole in the carpet. Was she crazy? No, he knew Vicki, she wasn't crazy. She was crazily compassionate, insanely courageous and ridiculously faithful. They were three of the traits he loved about her. She cared more about others than she did her own safely. Why did she have to be so wonderful? Judd felt selfish. He didn't want her to go, he didn't want to have to lose her. He knew what would happen though, he'd give in, and he would never in a million years let her go alone. She would win, and he would go along with her. He'd rather them both captured than have her go alone, even if he did believe that the message was a hoax. _We are always better together_, he thought. He took a deep breath. He had to do it, he had to go with her. They'd go, follow the directions given to them, and just trust God again, praying that he'd protect them from any danger. Judd sighed and walked to the door.

"Vick," he called, expecting to see her moping in the kitchen. But she wasn't there.

Judd frowned. _Where did she go?_

He checked the living room. She wasn't there.

"Vick, where are you?" He called, his heart beating faster.

He walked around the back of the house. She was nowhere to be seen.

_Surely she wouldn't just wander off. _He thought.

He was feeling nervous now. Where could she have gone? Then he noticed something in the back yard. Near a log. A necklace. Vicki's necklace. The one he gave her when they first were reunited after he returned from Israel. Lying in the dirt. His heart began pounding in his head.

"Vicki. This isn't funny!" he cried, his voice noticeably shaking, picking up the gold chain.

He was feeling short of breath, his heart was thumping, his mouth was bone dry. Where was she? Had she wandered off? Had someone snatched her? Surely not that quickly. Suddenly he heard a scream coming from the bushes down from the house. It sounded like… no.

"Vicki!" he cried, starting off at a run toward where the voice was coming from. It felt as though he was running for hours. Every scream was like a dagger in his heart and he sound made his skin crawl, he blinked back tears as he ran. He stopped when he heard an engine. He whipped his head around and on the horizon he saw it. A GC van taking off and speeding down the street. He knew in his gut what had happened. They had her. The GC had Vicki.

* * *

**Oh dear. What now? Tune in next time! :)**

**PS. Do you ever just listen to a song and it just reminds you of a fictional pairing so much it hurts? Yeah well listen to "Safe to Believe" by Delta Goodrem. It gives me unlimited Judd/Vicki feels.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Interrogation

**Look at me, updating both my fics on the same day! This chapter is a little violent so be warned. Apart from that, enjoy!**

* * *

Vicki sat on the hard chair in the interrogation room that one of the GC goons had forcefully lead her too. She was cuffed and terrified, she couldn't deny that, but she could pray, and act like she wasn't. She wasn't prepared to give them the satisfaction of seeing her weak or worse, break. It was a given that she would die before giving them any information about Judd or any of her friends, and she would die before denouncing her faith. She took a deep breath and put on a brave face as she heard the heavy footfalls of Commander Fulcire.

The Commander burst through the door and slammed it behind him. He stared her down. She held his stare, heart thumping in fear, but her face showing the courage she had deep within.

"Good to see you again Byrne." He said venomously.

"It's Thompson actually." She replied.

"Of course it is." Fulcire said with a fake smile, "How is that husband of yours?"

"He's great," she said stoically, "Thanks for asking."

"I'm sure he is."

"So you got me, Commander." She said, glaring at him, "Are you gonna kill me already?"

Fulcire laughed, "You wish. No Byrne… I mean Thompson, I'm not going to kill you. Not yet anyway. Not when I know how much information you have in that pretty red head of yours."

Vicki rolled her eyes, "You're crazy if you think I'm going to tell you anything."

A blinding pain stung her cheek and Fulcire swung the palm of his hand and struck her hard across the face. She winced.

"Don't give me that, Thompson." He spat, "I'm sure I can manage to… persuade you."

"Do we have to beat around the bush Commander?" Vicki said, clenching her jaw to mask the pain and fear, "You want to know where Judd is, and I'm never going to tell you. So you may as well kill me."

Fulcire laughed, "You think you're so clever. But really, you're just a completely naïve child."

Vicki glared at him, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play coy with me, Thompson. You and I both know that there isn't anything that precious husband of yours wouldn't do to save you. He's done stupid things countless times before. And you and I both know that he'll be planning some way, right now, as we speak to rescue you. You and I also know that it'll just be a matter of time before he is on his way. And when he gets here, I'll capture him…" he bent down so he was face to face with her, his nose inches from hers, "But I still won't kill you. No. Instead, I'll get to watch your pretty little face as I take that boy, stupid enough to get involved with someone like you and take his head."

A rage built up inside of her, deep down in the pit on her stomach, she wanted to hit him, scream at him, claw at his ragged, leathery face with her fingernails. He knew. This monster knew that she only had one weakness. Judd. He was her only weakness. And Fulcire knew that for Vicki, a fate worse than death would be witnessing Judd's. She could only pray that he wasn't going to be coming. But she knew Fulcire was right. She knew Judd would have found that she had gone missing and would already be planning a rescue mission. Walking straight into the trap. _Trap… huh._ She thought. He didn't want to risk walking into a trap for the believers in the email. Would he walk into a trap for her? Of course he would. Because she was his only weakness as well.

"Don't think you'll get off scott-free, Thompson." Fucire growled, "We can always arrange His and Her guillotines. You'll join your husband soon enough."

"You can kill our bodies, Commander," Vicki scowled, "But you can't touch our spirits."

Another blow of pain as the Commander struck her in the face again, this time knocking her right off the chair. She hit the concrete ground and reached to her mouth. Blood. She looked up only to see Fulcire's boots near her. She gasped as she noticed what he was about to do.

The Commanders boot connected with her body as he kicked her brutally across the room. She flew backwards and hit the concrete wall. She was whimpering in pain and was winded and out of breath. She couldn't hold onto the brave face anymore as tear ran down her bloody cheek.

Fulcire stared down at her and grabbed a handful of her red hair. He pulled her to her feet and she screamed.

"I've wanted to do that even since I first saw your face on that television screen." He growled at her, putting her back on the chair.

Her hair was matted in blood that was seeping from a wound on her face. Her lip was split and she was developing two black eyes. She tried as best to clutch her ribs as she could whilst cuffed. It felt as though some had broken. Her head was spinning and she felt like she was about to vomit.

"Now," Fulcire started, "I might not need your help in finding your husband… but I do believe you might have some information you'd like to share about a little group of Judahites in Avery."

Vicki breathlessly responded, "I'm not telling you anything about them either."

"Listen to me Thompson, and listen carefully." Fulcire shouted, "The more cooperative you are, not only the better for you but the better for Mr. Thompson."

"What are you talking about?" she murmered.

"Well, the longer you take to give me some information about the Avery Judahites the more I'm going to make him suffer, and in turn, make you suffer."

Vicki dropped her head. She was cornered. Fulcire grinned when he noticed she had begun to falter.

"So think carefully about what you have to say to me, Thompson. Think very carefully."

* * *

**AHHH! Hope you like. x**


	4. Chapter 4: The Camaraderie

**Just whipped this up for y'all tonight.**

* * *

Judd's hands trembled as he dialed the number for his friend. He didn't know what to do. Rather, he did, he just didn't know how. But he knew that there were people that he loved and trusted that would be more than willing to help him. His heart pounded with each ring of the telephone and got louder and louder with each chirp. He thought he was going to explode by the time he heard a voice answer.

"Hello?"

"Lionel." He blurted out, words blending into each other, his voice shaky, "I need help, I don't know what to do, she's gone, she was here and we had a fight and she stormed out and then they took her and I don't know what to do."

"Dude," Lionel said, "Slow down and breathe. What are you talking about?"

Judd inhaled an enormous breath, "Lionel. Vicki is gone. The GC took her."

There was only silence for a moment on the other end of the line, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I'm sure!" Judd shouted, "Lionel, I need help. Can you and some of the others get down here, I just..." his voice trailed off, "Lionel, I need to find her. Before she was taken we had this fight and she left angry at me and I need to see her again."

Judd was holding back tears that were threatening spill over at any moment.

Lionel sighed into the phone, "Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll bring some of the others.

* * *

It wasn't long before Lionel arrived that Judd's place with Mark, Conrad, Shelly and Darrion in tow. Shelly was distraught at the news and was crying, Conrad was consoling her. Darrion was upset, but was remaining strong for Judd's sake. Mark was just fired up and ready to go in guns blazing. Judd was pacing a hole in the floor when they arrived.

"Judd sit down." Lionel ordered, trying to help his friend keep it together. Judd didn't listen. He couldn't keep still.

"I can't," he said, "I have to do something."

"Judd," Lionel exclaimed, "We are here to help you do something. But you need to sit yourself down and tell us everything you know!"

Judd stopped in his tracks and slumped onto the sofa. Lionel stared pointedly at him waiting for him to say something.

"We got an email," he started, "From some believers in Wisconsin who claimed to need help. Vicki wanted to go off and help them."

"Did it say where in Wisconsin?" Mark asked.

Judd rubbed his eyes, "Appleton? I think?"

Mark groaned, "Carl put out a warning, red flagging Appleton, Wisconsin as a GC hotbed."

Judd rolled his eyes, "So I was right."

"Hey, that's not the attitude we need right now!" Lionel scolded, "What else happened?"

"Well," Judd said, "She wanted to go, and I said no, it looked like a trap and she got all mad saying what if it isn't, their might be believers that need our help. I said I wasn't going. She got even madder and finally said that she wouldn't go, but then she stormed out of the house. I stayed inside to cool off, and she was outside for about twenty minutes before I went to see her and she wasn't any where to be found. That's when I saw her necklace on the ground. I heard screaming from down the far back, so I went to see what was going on. And then I saw her being shoved into a GC van by a couple of goons."

Lionel furrowed his brow, "Do you think they grabbed her? Or lured her out?"

"I have no idea," Judd said, "I mean, her necklace was out the back so at first I thought maybe they'd grabbed her from there, but then why wouldn't they grab me too?"

"That's a good point," Mark said, "If they saw her out here, wouldn't they have searched the rest of the house to see if there were any others to grab?"

"That depends." Conrad said, "Fulcire likes to make people suffer. Maybe they grabbed her and only her for a reason."

"Yeah," said Darrion, "And maybe that reason was to lure all of us in. Use Vicki as bait. Then instead of just catching her and you, they catch all of us."

"You think they thought about it that hard?" Mark asked.

"I wouldn't put it past Fulcire."

"So what do we do?" Shelly said, "We go after her, we play right into their hands."

"Well we can't sit here and do nothing!" Mark exclaimed.

"We've taken on the GC before and won, we can do it again!" Darrion pointed out.

Judd was silently processing all the information, "She wouldn't want us to go."

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"What are you saying?" Lionel said, surprised.

"What I'm saying is I've never been more terrified in my life. I've finally found someone that I care about more than myself for the first time in my life and she's been ripped away from me. What I'm saying, she wouldn't want all of us going in there and falling right into their trap. You know what she's like. She'd die before any of us got caught. What I'm saying is, I don't care. If I have to go it alone I will, but I'm not going to ask you all to put your lives in danger because I know she wouldn't want that. She wouldn't want me to either, but that's a different story. She's my wife, and there is no way I'm letting her go without a fight. And if I have to die, so be it, but there's no way I'm not going to try and get her back."

The others just stared at him. They knew he was right. They knew she wouldn't ask them to risk their lives for her. But how many times had she risked her life for them? Far too many to count.

"Judd," Mark said, "We're a team. One in, all in."

"I'm with Mark." Conrad said.

"Count me in." Darrion piped up.

Shelly nodded in agreement.

"I think that settles it brother." Lionel said, putting a hand on his friends shoulder, "We're all in this with you. Live or die."

* * *

**Hope you likey! By the way, in this alternate universe, Mark isn't dead (yay!)**

**Reviews are always appreciated! xo**


	5. Chapter 5: The Plan

**Man I struggled with this chapter, not gonna lie. I'm hitting walls all over the place. Ack. Anyway, here goes.**

* * *

Vicki's cell was dark, damp and smelt like mildew. It was barely a room it was so tiny, and the GC cared so little about her comfort that it was completely empty save for a hole in the corner that acted as a bathroom. She had been thrown back into the cell after her interrogation and her whole body was in pain. Her ribs were sore, surely one or two were broken. Her face stung and she had a splitting headache. The guards had dropped her on the concrete floor and she was now barely able to move, her body ached so much. She felt her eyes begin to sting with tears that she ferociously tried to blink back. She didn't want to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her cry, but it was too much. She was terrified. Terrified for herself or course, but more terrified for what was to come. She knew Judd would have found her to be missing by now and she knew he'd be planning to come rescue her. But what about their fight? Maybe he didn't want to rescue her. _You said horrible things to him. Maybe he hates you._ A frightening voice in her head hissed at her. No. Of course he'd still want to save her. Wouldn't he? Her mind felt like it was turning in circles. She figured they were just lies from the enemy. She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears threatened to spill over. She prayed fiercely, _please don't let him come here. Keep him away!_ She couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears came, and they came in waves. She was terrified, she missed Judd so much. She cried harder as she remembered the last thing she had said to him,_ "I just don't like you very much right now"_. She didn't want that to be the last thing she'd ever say to him. She just wanted to see his face one more time. She'd give anything to see him walk into this cell right now and take her in his arms and softly kiss her bruises and hold her as she cried. But if he was here, he'd be the next GC Judahite victim. She shook her head. She was so confused and so, so alone. She hoped he wouldn't come, she prayed he wouldn't come, she didn't want him to come. But she knew deep down that he would. He always did. No matter the danger, he was always there for her. That's one of the reasons she loved him. She rolled into a ball on the cold hard floor and cried and cried until she drifted off to sleep and dreamed of being back home with Judd, safe and sound in his arms.

* * *

"Okay, we need a plan." Mark said, pacing the floor.

"Where do you think they're holding her?" Darrion asked.

"The closest GC holding facility probably." Lionel suggested.

"Where do you think that is?" Shelly asked.

"Someone would know. Maybe Chang knows?" Judd piped up.

"We could try." Lionel said, "He's not with GC anymore, but he might have some crazy piece of technology that can help us."

"If it's all we got, it's all we got." Mark said, "Lets call him."

Within minutes, Judd had hooked up the video phone and was frantically dialing Chang Wong in Petra. He tapped the mouse, agitated until his friend answered.

"Judd," Chang greeted, "What's up? You look awful."

"Thanks man," Judd replied, "Appreciate it."

"Sorry." Chang apologized, "What's happening."

"Chang, we need your help." Judd said, "Do you know where the closest GC holding facility is?"

"I might if you send me though your location." Chang replied.

Judd sent though the address and Chang punched some numbers into his computer, chewing his lower lip and furrowing his eyebrows.

"Closest Holding Facility?" Chang muttered.

"What is it?" Judd asked.

"It looks like the closest GC prison is about 50 miles north of your current location. In Appleton"

Judd blew air through his lips, "Great. That's apparently a hot bed of GC activity."

"Sure is." Chang said, "Even looks like Fulcire is currently doing some work there."

Judd dropped his head in his hands, "Fulcire. Great."

"Why do you need to know?" Chang asked, raising an eyebrow.

Judd sighed and looked at his friend, "Vicki was captured by GC."

Chang's eyes widened, "You're kidding."

"I wish I was kidding." Judd replied.

"Man, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, well, we have a crew together," Judd replied, "We're going to try and find her. We're hoping they're holding her nearby."

"They probably are!" Chang said, "And they're probably just waiting for you to sweep in there on your white horse so they can capture you too! I know GC, you'll all be walking right into a trap."

"And what do you suppose I do Chang!?" Judd exclaimed, "Leave her there to suffer alone? Let her die alone?"

Chang shook his head sadly, "Of course not. You've just got to be careful. Security will be tight and the streets will probably be crawling with GC. I suggest you go off road."

Judd sighed, "We have no idea what we're going to do, Chang. How do we break into a GC prison and get her out this late in the game? This isn't five years ago. Five years ago we could pull stuff like this off, but we are wanted now. They want us dead, simply for the crime of existing."

"I know." Chang said, "It's risky, man. You have to know you could be walking straight into your own execution."

"Yeah, I know." Judd said, "But I can't stay here and do nothing and watch them behead her on National television. Even if they execute us both, at least I'll know I tried. And I'll be with her."

Chang smiled a sad smile, "If I find out anything about her whereabouts or anything that can make this easier for you, I'll let you know asap, okay? I'm going to send you through the directions to the prison. You go get your wife, man."

"Thanks Chang, I appreciate it." Judd signed off and sighed. "Alright, Chang says that the closest GC prison is 50 miles from here in Appleton. Here is a map."

He slapped the map down in the middle of the table.

"How do we know they're holding her there?" Darrion asked.

"We don't," Judd said, "We can only assume. I highly doubt that they would take her anywhere else. She's wanted, they probably want to deal with her as soon as possible. And we have to deal with the possibility they probably want to trap us."

"We need to outsmart them." Mark said.

"How are we going to do that?" Darrion replied, "We can't just walk into the prison, grab her and walk out."

"Security is going to be really tight." Conrad said.

Shelly groaned, "I literally have no idea what to do!"

"Neither do I." Judd murmured, "I think right now all we can do is pray. Hard."

The kids all joined hands and stood in agreement while Judd prayed, "God, we thank you that you are far above our earthly circumstances. We ask you to protect Vicki while she is being held. We ask that you would bring her comfort and peace that passes all understanding. We pray that you would remind her that you love her and that we love her too. And we ask for your wisdom and guidance in what we are about to do. Guide our paths as we look for her and keep us safe. Lord we need a miracle to pull this off. Please help us. Amen."

The group said, "Amen" in agreement and lifted their heads. Shelly and Darrion had tears in their eyes. Judd was fighting them off.

"I think we need to just do it." Mark said. "We need to just go out and get it done."

"I think some of us should stay behind." Conrad said. "I think someone needs to be here in case any more information comes through."

"Good thinking." Mark said, "Who's staying?"

"Well I'm going. Clearly." Judd said.

"I'm going too." said Lionel.

"Vicki's helped me through so much," Darrion said, "I want to go too."

"So do I." Shelly said.

"So looks like I'm left behind?" Conrad said, annoyed.

"It's still an important job, Conrad." Judd said, "We need a contact here. And what if Chang calls and gives us a tip? We need you here."

"Fine." Conrad said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll stay with you." Shelly piped up.

"Are you sure?" Darrion asked.

"Yeah." Shelly said, smiling at Conrad, "Sure."

They were startled when the phone rang. Judd answered it. It was Melinda, back in Avery.

"Judd, turn on the news. Now." She said.

Judd ran to the television and switched it to the right station. Just as he turned it on, a blonde news anchor was reporting breaking news. In the background was a mugshot of Vicki.

"Breaking News today as young Judahite, Vicki Byrne Thompson was arrested by the authorities for crimes against the Global Community. The teenager is best known for her traitorous broadcast during the GC Gala two years ago, in which she delivered hate-speech against the Global Community and its leader Potentate Carpathia. Byrne Thompson has been on the GC's most wanted list for five years as she has consistently demonstrated dangerous and antisocial behavior. Her main accomplice and husband, Judd Thompson is still on the run and is said to be dangerous and unstable. If anyone knows any information regarding the whereabouts of this young man, there will be a substantial reward if the information leads to his arrest."

Judd stood up and threw the remote across the room.

"Darn right, I'm dangerous and unstable!" he yelled. "They took my wife!"

"Calm down, dude," Lionel said putting a hand on his shoulder, "We can't have you flying off the handle. You need to stay strong and more importantly, sane."

"We need to go." Judd said flatly and stomped out to the car.

* * *

**Ugh. I didn't like that chapter. I hope you like it better. If you're interested, you can go visit my blog at I post some of my original writing over there. Mostly poetry. I also just wrote a poem based on Judd and Vicki and posted it there. It's called "You", just a couple of posts down. Enjoy! x **


End file.
